Tall vs short sprinters: does height help or hurt your speed?

How height changes your stride

Running speed is step length multiplied by step frequency. Longer legs make a longer step easier, and the two variables pull against each other: in a study of 36 athletes sprinting flat out, those who used a longer step tended to have a lower step rate. The authors named leg length as one likely reason, along with takeoff height and vertical takeoff speed.

Bolt shows the trade-off at its extreme. Across his three fastest 100m races he averaged about 41 steps, with each step covering roughly 2.44m. The other finalists took 44 to 46 steps at a higher frequency, and their times across those three finals averaged 9.91 against his 9.63.

The balance between the two also varies for reasons beyond height. A study of 52 elite 100m races found that some athletes ran their best times through higher step frequency and others through longer steps, and that the reliance was individual. Across all of them, faster runners get their speed by applying more force to the ground while their legs swing through the air at about the same speed as slower runners' legs.

Acceleration and top speed

The research on height and acceleration is thin. In their analysis of Bolt's races, Krzysztof and Mero suggested his height and long legs may be a disadvantage in the acceleration phase, where his shorter rivals were quicker, and an advantage from about 50 to 80m and through the finish. That is one athlete, so treat it as a pattern to check against your own splits.

Your build does change your start position. A 2023 study set block distances as percentages of each athlete's leg length and found the shorter front-block settings worked best, so a tall sprinter's blocks should sit further from the line in centimetres than a short sprinter's. The block start guide shows how to measure it. The Haugen review of elite sprint training adds that trunk angle in early acceleration and lower-limb joint angles vary with body dimensions, so you can't copy another sprinter's positions exactly.

How tall are elite 100m sprinters?

The list below sticks to heights from peer-reviewed studies and official Team USA profiles. The averages say more than any single athlete does.

The 179 cm average comes from a study of the top 100 men in every running event from 1996 to 2011. Sprinters were taller and heavier than distance runners, and 400m runners were the tallest of all, at about 183 cm. Within the sprints, the fastest athletes tended to be slightly taller and heavier. Across all events, though, height was only moderately related to speed, and the authors concluded that mass and BMI were better indicators. A separate study of world-class sprinters found that taller, more linear builds have been linked with success in women for several decades, and in men only in the most recent decade the authors examined.

At 196 cm, Bolt stood 17 to 20 cm taller than the average of the other finalists in each of his three fastest races, which puts him at the far end of the range.

If you are tall

• Keep strength training in your week all year. The study of elite step patterns suggested that sprinters who rely on step length need more focus on maintaining strength levels.
• Spend real time on acceleration. Within an event, elite runners' body mass scales with the square of their height, and the Haugen review notes that a heavier body costs more energy to accelerate. Sled pushes, hill sprints and 10–30m starts are in the acceleration drills guide.
• Set your blocks from your leg length, and time 10m to check the setting.

If you are shorter

• Keep fast running in every phase of the year. The same study suggested that frequency-reliant sprinters need to keep their nervous system ready for fast leg turnover, so flying sprints and short, sharp plyometrics stay in even when volume drops.
• Build force before you chase stride length. In Weyand's treadmill study, faster runners applied more force to the ground and swung their legs no faster, which makes more force per step the route to speed for any build. The plyometrics and explosive training guides cover the jumps and lifts that build it.
• Run your own step length. The Haugen review warns that a less accomplished athlete who copies a world-class sprinter's step length will likely run slower, because their ground forces turn more vertical.

If you are still growing

A young sprinter's build is still changing, and so is the way they produce speed. A study of 375 boys around 13 years old found that, before their growth spurt, step frequency explained most of the differences in top speed. After the spurt, step length explained more. Longer legs kept adding to step length, while extra body mass held back speed in both groups.

The authors recommended plyometric and strength training for young sprinters, with the focus on force relative to bodyweight. A growth spurt can leave your block settings out of date, so remeasure your leg length after a few centimetres of growth and retest your 10m and 30m times before deciding anything about your build.

Whatever your height, check your form on video against the positions in sprint form, and see how your time compares on the average 100m times page.

Common mistakes

Reaching for a longer stride

Stretching your step out in front of you lands as a brake. Let step length grow from a harder push under your hips.

Copying a sprinter with a different build

Block settings and trunk angle vary with body size. Measure your own and time the changes.

Writing yourself off because of your height

Christian Coleman won a world 100m medal at 5'9". Train your force production and judge yourself by your times.